Theoretical and experimental characterization of the EMP-interaction with composite-metallic enclosures

A numerical procedure is developed for the prediction of the electric and magnetic field distribution inside an enclosure having aluminum and carbon-fiber reinforced composite (CFRC) walls, illuminated by a transient electromagnetic plane wave. The composite panel is simulated by an effective layer model; time-domain surface impedance boundary conditions are enforced on the external faces of the composite slab, to express the relations among the tangential electric and magnetic field components. A coupling model for the calculation of the current induced along thin wires inside the enclosure is presented. The proposed models are implemented in a three-dimensional (3-D) finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) procedure, which is applied to the analysis of the shielding performances of an aluminum box with one CFRC face, illuminated by a transient electromagnetic wave. The computed results are compared with measured data obtained by using a full scale EMP generator.